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Holly Drop
Does anyone know where there is a good tutorial on how to do the holly drop from a knee hold. I’ve found some videos on this but the drop is so quick its difficult to know exactly what goes where. It almost looks like it goes from a knee hold to interted thigh hold to scorpio.
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15 Replies
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That’s a damn good question Jeng. Did you check youtube? That’s probably a dumb question. I’m sure you did already lol, but I had to ask…
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Hi Jeng! I haven’t found any tutorials for it, only a few good demonstrations. Like you, I had to figure this out myself. I will try my hardest to break it down. Try transitioning from the point where you have a single leg hooked around the pole, the lower leg straightened and extended behind the pole into the Scorpio several times very slowly, using hands on the pole to guide you, before you attempt to drop into this move. That will get you acquainted with where you need to turn and twist. Essentially even though it looks like there’s a thigh hold, when its performed as a drop, the free leg swings so quickly that there is no time to really do a thigh hold. You are relying on the momentum generated by the fall to position you where you’ll need to be to grip the pole with your hip and underarm in the Scorpio position.
After you grab the pole with your higher hand to exit your knee hold or Cupid/Star and extend the free leg behind the pole, you can then release the arm holding the pole, but be ready to really swing it and your free leg. That swing is going to get your limbs in place. Swing the free leg back while swinging both of the arms around. You will make a full wheel with your holding arm, and it is going to be this arm whose underside rests against the pole when you finally get into Scorpio. Your free leg will cross the pole and be on the opposite side of its starting position, and it will shift your weight poleward. There is going to be a moment before your hip and underarm are on the pole that there is some slipping, and yes it does drag the hooking thigh across the pole for a couple inches in a way that can be painful. But then this can be true of any drop move and is not unique to the Holly Drop.
It’s a very hard move to try to break down, even though it happens in less than a second’s time. That’s probably the reason that tutorials are not available, because making one would be an almost impossible task. I broke it down as best I could in text and even re-reading what I’ve just put down I’m not sure it communicates what needs to be communicated. Ultimately I think you have to develop a feeling for it by doing it slowly with your hand as a guide, maybe adding speed to it, and then later trying it as a drop.
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I’ve seen this referenced a few times…what exactly is the Holly drop? Is that from the knee hold where you eventually end in a Scorpio?
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i just recently learned this one, I do it from knee hold position now too, wish my camera was working or i would do a demo and put it in slow motion for you!!
the main trick is to be ready to curl your torso to be facing the ceiling as soon as you ‘drop’ also keeping your leg that will be making contact with the pole at all times tight and in a closed shape is important too. I also make the mistake of going slow at first. -
OK…so I looked it up on wiki pole…
The thing I found interesting, was that I found two vids on youtube that did it a bit differently.
One hooked the upper knee into the scorpio…the other was more like switching the legs and hooked the lower knee into the scorpio..
(Svarri….used your vid as one of the examples)
Using upper leg:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-lF91smyYbM&NR=1Switching legs:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjT9Qao6za0&NR=1I haven’t tried either but I drop from superman into scorpio….which I find quite easy. I wonder if that would be an easier maneuver to start with so that you get use to the drop and hooking that leg with less transitions in between.
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Oh, very interesting, Empyrean, I had never seen the leg switch version. Good research!
The main thing I noticed is that with the leg switch version, the need for the body twist during the fall is not necessary and there’s no turning, but without the leg switch the whole body passes across the pole before securing in the Scorpio. I don’t understand how the lady doing the leg switch Holly Drop was able to avoid slamming her side into the pole!
I don’t know if I would consider that a Holly Drop for sure. It’s a very impressive and pretty move, but the technique and landing are different than the original one. If I am not mistaken about the origins of the Holly Drop, it was first seen on YouTube being performed by a lady identified as "Tattooed Hollie," on a channel that I think is called "mrandmrsburroughs" or something of the sort. Karol of the REDKE71 YouTube channel and our current reigning Miss USPDF East Coast adopted and perfected the move, and named it the Holly Drop after Tattooed Hollie. If anyone knows the Holly Drop history better, please feel free to correct me.
Some key points about the leg switch variation: 1.) the leg switch was performed before this lady released the pole. While her top arm was still on the pole, she placed her lower hand on the pole too, performed the leg swtich, and dropped after hooking with the second leg. So except for some possible rib bruising, it sounds pretty safe. But nonetheless, this modified Holly Drop is a drop from a lower leg hook, instead of an upper leg hook. 2.) taking into consideration that the legs have to be swtiched before the hands are released, dropping out of a knee hold or Cupid/Star would be obsolete. It might be more intuitive to do this variation from a modified pole sit, a plank, or some other position where the legs are already placed where they would need to be located in order to drop into a Scorpio from the lower leg instead of the higher leg.
God, I feel like such a Poindexter. LOL! Geez, without a pole I’d have no life. Just more fuel for my poisonously analytical mind.
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The holly drop has no thigh hold and is very fast! lol
I do one in the Dec newsletter…not sure the exact time frame though
http://ver3.studioveena.com/lessons/view/2432
It helps to use your hands at first and as you get more comfortable with the move you can do it with out…it is kinda scary at first. I do a knee hold then move my bottom leg so the pole crosses the front of my upper thigh. I was gonna try to describe it…but David is right…it’s kinda hard to!
Karol taught me…she might have a tutorial for it. I know she did one for the superman drop
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ok ok, so for anyone who wants to learn the holly drop, ive been teaching it in my advanced workshops.
i do it here at about 3:45 http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KTWU8zUsfeA
and here is where i first started working on it.. its in the last minute of this video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q8P73ty3NuU
if anyone would like a tutorial email me at mailto:red_ke71@hotmail.com
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Oooh oooh I love the holly drop!!! Will be emailing.. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
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I just found this great vid, which has a relatively slow holly drop at 2:36. Great routine too, btw.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=55fWyydaECc&feature=rec-fresh+div-r-6-HM -
Karol, that routine is f-ing amazing. Good lord! My fav part is at the end, you look like an angel in the dove. It’s one insane move right into the next. You are on a whole ‘nother level woman! Anyway, enough drooling. What I meant to write before I got all starry eyed was that youtube needs slo-mo. My mind just can’t seem to wrap around the holly drop. Maybe after I try it, it’ll make sense.
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Karol’s tutorial is amazin’, girlies!! .. oh, and fellas!! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_e_biggrin.gif
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I too got karols’ holly drop tutorial. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif Wow, she explains it so well and breaks it down nicely. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_razz.gif First she shows a baby step untill you get the jest of it then shows how to do the final fast fall end product. She is a great instructor with a great holly drop tutorial. https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_queen.gif Email her if you want to get this amazing tutorial.
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im so glad you gals found it so helpful..
i always feel like a doofus talking to the camera when im alone in my pole room, haha.
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I know what you mean, Red, I always feel weird trying to record myself talking to the camera…usually (well, pretty much all the time!) I do it when no one is home! I haven’t posted it, though…not YET anyways!
I had no idea this move even existed till I saw this thread…but it’s really awesome, and one day, I shall do it! https://www.studioveena.com/img/smilies/icon_cheers.gif
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